Anna Paquin leads a very competent cast to portray Christina, a mother of two who flees an abusive relationship. She heads south into an ever increasing storm of drug influenced business - as their lives become paradoxically easier and more difficult at the same time.
The lead roles are compelling, with Paquin showing moments of superior skill, proving that her Oscar from 1993 was no fluke.
As it's a true story, the story line is a series of dramatized facts, woven together in a nearly challenging way.
The attention to 1970s set, wardrobe and script (a Walton's reference!) was superb - throwing my head space back into my own 1970s childhood a number of times.
The movie could have been preachy, but wasn't - it instead conveys the practical necessities that sometimes cloud choices. Christina was confronted with truly desperate situation, and we are left to consider the magnitude of that in a world more sexist than today.
I was left with the sense that this movie entirely escapes the worst of Hollywood, rather it has an Indie feel to it that I found enjoyable.
The lead roles are compelling, with Paquin showing moments of superior skill, proving that her Oscar from 1993 was no fluke.
As it's a true story, the story line is a series of dramatized facts, woven together in a nearly challenging way.
The attention to 1970s set, wardrobe and script (a Walton's reference!) was superb - throwing my head space back into my own 1970s childhood a number of times.
The movie could have been preachy, but wasn't - it instead conveys the practical necessities that sometimes cloud choices. Christina was confronted with truly desperate situation, and we are left to consider the magnitude of that in a world more sexist than today.
I was left with the sense that this movie entirely escapes the worst of Hollywood, rather it has an Indie feel to it that I found enjoyable.